Being subjected to stress has been shown to cause adverse mental and physical results in people. As a result, people have been trying to develop new methods and practices that will relieve stress and, as a consequence, induce a state of relaxation. Various stress-relieving practices have been developed over the years, from yoga techniques, to devices that massage various areas of the body, and to electronic devices that intend to control the breathing patterns of a user of the device, and thus indirectly revise the user's heart rate, to create a state of peaceful relaxation. Such electronic devices have been marketed under the brand names of emWave® Coherence Systems, emWave® Personal Stress Reliever and StressEraser® biofeedback system.
It has been found that the human body can achieve a state of relaxation by utilizing controlled breathing techniques, such as slow, steady and deep breathing, which in turn, slows and stabilizes the heart rate and induces a state of relaxation. One commonly utilized breathing rate for achieving relaxation has been six breathes per minute accomplished in a steady rhythm. However, breathing at the rate of six breaths per minute is not a normal breathing rate for many people. As a result, most people need to be trained and guided into such a breathing pattern.
The stationary condition of breathing and the trend of heart rate variation reflect the status of interaction between the sympathetic and parasympathetic neural system in the human body. When heart rate variation becomes regular and synchronized with the breathing rhythm, it is considered that the neural system tends to be in harmony with the body and mind, which means that the physical body becomes more effective, emotions are stabilized, and the mind is peaceful and perceptive, which is referred to as a highly physiological relaxed state. On the contrary, stressful emotions including anger, disappointment, and anxiety make the heart rate variation irregular and incoherent with breathing. In such cases, a stress management device can be utilized to guide the user to conduct slow and deep breaths, thus helping the user to focus his/her attention to enter into a relaxed state with body and mind harmony.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,358,201, issued on Mar. 19, 2002, to Doc L. Childre, et al, discloses a method of determining the state of entrainment between biological systems which undergo rhythmic functions, such as a breathing and heart rates, by determining a heart rate variability, and an apparatus for monitoring the heart beat of a user for application of that method. This Childre patent defines formulas to calculate a parameter of the frequency distribution and then outputs that parameter on the display of the apparatus to assist the user in attaining relaxation. Several divisional patents have also been granted from this U.S. Pat. No. 6,358,201, including U.S. Pat. No. 7,117,032, granted on Oct. 3, 2006; U.S. Pat. No. 7,163,512, granted on Jan. 16, 2007; and U.S. Pat. No. 7,462,151, granted on Dec. 9, 2008.
In U.S. Pat. No. 7,117,032, the apparatus defines one or more optimal breathing patterns for the user and then provides feedback to the user to reflect how closely the actual breathing pattern of the user matches the optimal breathing pattern defined by the apparatus. U.S. Pat. No. 7,163,512 defines the manner in which psychological coherence is indicated by the power spectrum distribution having a peak above a predetermined amplitude with the heart rate achieving a sine wave pattern, while U.S. Pat. No. 7,462,151 defines the indication of psychological coherence as when the power spectrum distribution is above a predetermined amplitude with total energy being above and below the peak, thus defining different aspects of the method of facilitating physiological coherence utilizing respiration training and autonomic balance.
An apparatus utilizing a method of presenting audible and visual cues to synchronize a user's breathing cycle with an external timing reference to synchronize heart rate variability with the user's breathing cycle is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,255,672, granted to Stephen B. Elliott on Aug. 14, 2007, and in U.S. Pat. No. 7,497,821, granted to Stephen B. Elliott on Mar. 3, 2009. A similar method and system for consciously synchronizing the breathing cycle with the natural heart rate cycle is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,713,212, issued to Stephen B. Elliott on May 11, 2010.
It would be desirable to provide a compact apparatus that can be mounted on the user's finger to measure heart rate, and sense breathing patterns, then display animation to guide the user into a breathing pattern that will induce a state of relaxation in the user. It would also be desirable that this apparatus evaluate the status of relaxation in the user and provide a respiratory feedback control to guide the user into the desired respiratory rate for achieving a state of relaxation. It would further be desirable to provide motivation to the user to continue utilizing the respiratory pattern for achieving a state of relaxation by providing the user with a visual display of the user's efforts in reaching a state of relaxation, as well as a score reflecting the success of the user's efforts.